A Northern Ireland electrician has suffered a serious brain injury after plunging from a bridge in Switzerland.

And now David Heron’s family are facing a £24,000 bill to get him home and on the road to recovery.

The 36-year-old, from outside Carrickfergus , Co Antrim , appears to have toppled from a wall next to a footpath onto a concrete walkway around 15 to 20 feet below while enjoying a night out at a festival in Zurich.

David had been working in the country before disaster struck, leaving him with multiple fractures and significant brain trauma.

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His family say his care in Switzerland has been “second to none”, but that medics believe he must continue his recovery at home in “familiar surroundings”.

However experts say that a commercial flight, even one where a number of seats are block-booked to allow for a medical team and a patient lying down, is not an option meaning an air ambulance is needed. That, the family say, will cost £24,000.

The spot on the Quailbrucke where David Heron fell

David’s brother Mark told Belfast Live: “Davy suffered really serious injuries with fractures to his skull, spine, shoulder, collar bone and ribs as well as a punctured lung and, of course, brain trauma. He’s making good progress with the rehab in Switzerland and is able to walk a little as long as there’s people on either side of him.

“But the injury to his brain is still there. He’s a bit confused and when I’m talking to him he’ll be asking me to come and collect him to bring him home, even though he knows he’s in Switzerland. The healthcare in Switzerland has been superb, and it’s been all paid for, but we’re now at the point where we have to get him home.

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“The doctors say once he gets out of intensive care he should do his rehabilitation in familiar surroundings with familiar faces, a familiar language. I’ve spoken to various companies about repatriation.

David Heron before and after the fall

"One option was to block-book nine seats for a medical team and to allow him to lie down, but once they saw his medical notes the company said it wasn’t an option. We need a full-scale air ambulance and that’s going to be £24,000.

“It’s just not the sort of money you budget for on your average year. I don’t really like having to ask for help, but we need to get him home. But a GoFundMe page we set up has already got great support and people have been brilliant in helping us.”

Davy was at the Electronic Dance Music festival in Zurich on August 11 when he fell. When he came off the bridge, he was with someone he had just met. But even though the man he met only knew he was called David he posted on social media asking if anyone knew who he was and if he was ok since the fall.

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David’s brother Mark came across the post and has now been in contact with the man. The witness to the fall says in the post it was an “extremely sobering experience” that happened in the “blink of an eye”.

David Heron walking with the aid of hospital staff in Switzerland

The witness says a boat on the river which the bridge crosses which was carrying medical personnel was nearby and was able to help treat Davy before rushing him to hospital. Mark says he believes “because they were on the scene immediately Davy’s still with us”.

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